Racial Fractionalization and School Performance |
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| Authors: | Joshua C. Hall Peter T. Leeson |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Bowling Green State University;2. We thank Peter Boettke, Stratford Douglas, Mark Gillis, Santiago Pinto, Justin Ross, Russell Sobel, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. Joshua Hall was an H.B. Earhart Fellow at the time of this research and gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ken and Randy Kendrick Fellowship, the Institute for Humane Studies Dan Searle Fellowship, and the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University. Peter Leeson gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.;3. Email: .;4. George Mason University |
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| Abstract: | The literature on racial “peer effects” suggests that diversity improves at least some students' school performance. However, a literature in economic development posits that diversity may negatively affect school performance by undermining the efficient provision of education. This article empirically tests this claim, which we call the “public goods channel,” by examining the relationship between racial diversity and student performance in Ohio's school districts. We find that moving from a completely homogenous school district to one in which two racial groups have equal population shares is associated with a 7–17.5 percentage point decline in the passage rate on the state math exam, holding per pupil spending across districts constant. These results suggest that racial diversity is negatively associated with school performance but that the public goods channel is not responsible for this relationship. |
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